going France for perfume curiosities

I am going to France for my vacation. Girmont-Val-díAjol is a small town in North of Lorraine close to Alsace and Jura. Itís nice place to rest, but I need some perfume adventure as well.

I think I am going to visit the next cities: Nancy (FR), Strasbourg (FR), Freiburg (D), may be Zurich (Sw) or Basel or Bern. Smaller French cities as BesanÁon, Mulhouse, Colmar etc.

Are there nice things to visit from a perfume lover point of view? Like Perfumery Osswald in Zurich or LíArtisan Parfumeur shop in Strasbourg? I am interested in sniffing of rare and niche perfumes and collecting samples. May be buying a nice fragrance and of course looking for perfume curiosities (distillery, perfume museum etc.) Any ideas or experiences?

Another question is about samples. In some perfume shops like Douglas in Netherlands and recently also ICI Paris XL itís possible to ask a SA to make a sample of a fragrance. Are there also such shops in France and Germany where you can obtain samples of their perfumes?

Re: going France for perfume curiosities

You won't find anything like Osswald in Berne. There's Yours Perfumery who has Lubin's Le Vetiver due to my initiative and Spiess has nice stuff too. But still nothing compared to Osswald. But apart from that, Berne is much more beautiful than Zurich!!!

Re: going France for perfume curiosities

Originally Posted by chasefairfax

shouldn't you be going to grasse? also check chartres which has a perfume festival annually.

May be I should. But so far it was planed as a "relax vaccation with some sightseeing" Afterwards I found I'd like to give it a perfume twist. It can be a small twist - like visiting a German Douglas where they have more interesting staff than in Dutch Douglas. Or a bigger one - this one depends on the answers to my question or chance to find something on the scene. I shall remember Grasse for my next vaccation. Thanks.

Originally Posted by rex

You won't find anything like Osswald in Berne. There's Yours Perfumery who has Lubin's Le Vetiver due to my initiative and Spiess has nice stuff too. But still nothing compared to Osswald. But apart from that, Berne is much more beautiful than Zurich!!!

Osswald in Berne? Zurich, right? Well it's the first time I will be so close to Switzerland. So I'll visit it anyway, may be even twice - Zurich and Berne - any tips are welcome. Thanks for tips.